Somali forces have brought to an end an all-night siege on a hotel in which at least 26 people were killed.
Islamic extremist group, al Shabaab, has claimed responsibility – and at least four rebels attacked the Asasey Hotel in the southern port city of Kismayo on Friday evening.
The al Qaeda-linked group – often uses car bombs to infiltrate heavily-fortified targets such as the hotel, which is around 310 miles southwest of the capital Mogadishu.
One was used at the entrance gate and then gunmen stormed the building.
Those killed in the attack include one Briton, three Kenyans, three Tanzanians, two Americans and prominent Canadian-Somali journalist, Hodan Nalayeh and her husband, Farid Jama Suleiman.
Ms Nalayeh was born in Somalia in 1976 but she spent most of her life in Canada, first in Alberta and then in Toronto.
She founded Integration TV, an international web-based video production company aimed at Somali viewers globally and she was the first Somali woman media owner in the world.
Fifty-six people were also injured in the attack before Somali forces ended the siege, which lasted more than 14 hours.
All the gunmen were shot dead by troops, a police spokesman said.
